HighLow Review

In this FXaxe HighLow review, we will look into a broker that hails from Australia. We will dig into the trading platform, the customer service, regulation and general payment information. Our reviewers will also pose as potential clients in order to get the most objective view of the broker.

HighLow is a binary options broker that has decided to become regulated by the Australian Financial Services Commission. This means that it must have met quite stringent hurdles in order to attain the licence. This also means that it could be an ideal regulated broker for Australian binary Option Investors.

Another thing that really surprised us about HighLow was the really small minimum investment of only A$10. This means that anyone who wants to get into Binary Options trading but does not want to stake too much on their initial test can give HighLow a proper trial. However, they could also use the free demo account on offer.

HighLow Regulation

As mentioned, HighLow took the step of obtaining regulation from the ASIC. This means that they would have had to have met stringent regulations in terms of client protections and business practices. The holding company of HighLow, RCTM is regulated under an ASIC number of 364264. Their Australian business number is 85143553628.

The main office locations of HighLow is Level 14, Macquarie House on 167 Macquire Street in Sydney. They also have a subsidiary office in London at 145-157 St John Street, EC1V 4PW. This is a good sign from a broker as a physical presence exerts transparency of the broker.

The ASIC regulation also means that the broker has to follow a set protocol when it comes to handling customer complaints and money. More specifically, client funds are held in segregated accounts in a client account with the National Australia Bank.

HighLow also appears to have quite an established reputation in the binary options market. They have been offering their services since 2010 which makes them one of the oldest option brokers. This was a good sign for us as new brokers tend to have less of a track record and hence their claims are usually hard to verify.

Although HighLow is based in Australia, they can take clients from a number of regions including Europe and Asia. They cannot, unfortunately, take U.S. clients. For that purpose, FXaxe has a list of brokers who accept US clients.

HighLow Website

What really impressed us about HighLow was how simple the registration and on boarding process was. The website is well laid out with a very clean and uncluttered interface. They also didn’t have any testimonials and other marketing gimmicks which always look suspect. This is usually a sign of a broker that knows their reputation precedes them.

If you open a real account with HighLow and it gets approved and you deposit $10, you are entitle to a $50 cashback option. What this effectively means is that you can start trading with HighLow with free funds, no doubt an interesting offer.

We registered on HighLow just to get a sense of how smooth the process was. Something that we were quite impressed with was that we did not get one sales call upon registration. This was a breath of fresh air.

We later discovered that HighLow does not have a call centre. This means that you will not have to deal with extensive calls from pushy brokers who constantly pester you.

HighLow Trading Platform

The HighLow trading platform is based on the MarketsPulse technology. What immediately sticks out for the user is how intuitive the trading interface is. It is well laid out and easy to navigate but still has all of the information one would require in order to make the most informed decision on the next trade.

If the trader is ready to enter a position, they have to select the option type that they want to enter at the top. Then, just below this, they have to select the expiry time that they would prefer. These two selections are a filter which then presents the trader with the different option trades that he/she can put on.

These option types are presented in a scroll-able “carousal” that is below the filters. This allows the trader to quickly swipe by and observe the types of options on a range of currencies that are available to trade. It also gives essential information on that option contract right before the trader can decide on whether to enter the trade. There are also a range of different assets that the trader can invest in and these include currencies, Stocks, Indices and Commodities.

Another thing that really impressed us was the range of Option types on offer at HighLow. For example, apart from the standard High Low / Up Down options with 90% return, a trader can also invest in a range of other trading alternatives.

One of these is Forex spread trading. This is ideal for those investors who like to take on quite a bit of risk and reap the potential rewards. Sometimes, the pay-out on a spread trade can exceed 100%. They also have range options. What these allow an investor to do is enter an option that the price of the asset will remain within a particular range (or go outside of that).

The range option is a good investment instrument to use if you want to enter a tunnel strategy. HighLow also has a range of option expiry times ranging from 60 seconds to 5 minutes.

We also saw that HighLow had something called a “Turbo Option”. These are short term options (30-60 seconds) that one can enter at any time and on a regular basis. Turbo options are for those traders who like to practice scalping. This turbo option is also available on forex spread trading where traders can generate up to 200%.

Another great feature of HighLow is their world class data streams. They get all of their information from a data provider called Leverate. This ensures that traders have the most up to date information when it comes to breaking market news which is especially useful for price action trading.

For those traders who want to get a sense of how market sentiment is moving, there is the trader’s choice feature. This allows the trader to get an idea of what positions the other traders are taking on the market. Hence, if you were about to enter a position and wanted to confirm that it was the correct action to take, you could cross reference it with the other traders.

Of course, HighLow also has an advanced mobile app that is available on both Android and iOs. This will no doubt be helpful for those traders who would like to monitor their positions while they are on the go. In a similar fashion to the web interface, the mobile app makes it really easy to enter trades with your desired parameters in place.

HighLow Demo Account

We always appreciate it when a broker makes a free demo account available to the trader. This is for a number of reasons. Firstly, for those traders who wanted to improve their trading skills it is of great benefit. The trader can use “virtual” funds and assess how well he would have performed if he had indeed invested.

Another reason that a demo account is helpful is for more experienced traders to get a better sense of how the platform operates. Sometimes a trader may have been used to the technology on another platform and it can be relatively hard to adjust to a new layout.

When we tested the HighLow demo platform, we were given $10,000 in virtual funds. We also wanted to make certain that the demo platform was indeed exactly the same as the real account. This is usually a major concern for a number of traders who are worried about “rigged” platforms.

Our review team can conclude that the platform is exactly the same as that of the demo account. Hence, the returns that you are able to generate on the demo account are exactly the returns you will achieve with the real account.

Obviously, the experience of trading real funds is different than that of Demo funds and traders should be comfortable to follow a proven binary option strategy and not let loss aversion or loss chasing impact on their investment decisions.

HighLow Trading Bonus

Unlike many of the other Binary Option brokers that we have had to review, HighLow has a clear and fair bonus system. It is not used by the broker as a tool to keep your money and lock you into some sort of a long term obligation.

When you make a first time deposit at HighLow you get a $50 bonus termed a “cashback”. This is released to the trader on the first trade that they place. Subsequent to this the trader will earn points when trading with HighLow. These points can then be converted to cash on a monthly basis.

Our reviewers went through the T&C’s on HighLow’s website and can confirm that these rewards are indeed no questions asked and will not tie your money up with some sort of a turnover requirement.

Customer Support

The FXaxe reviewers wanted to get an idea of how effective of the customer service is at HighLow. For us, customer service is an essential part of a good trading experience. Indeed, from a number of different online searches, one can see that the view among HighLow users has been a positive experience.

Although there is no live chat option on their platform, there is Customer phone support which we found to be an adequate replacement. This is available in both English and Japanese. Of course, there is always the option to use the customer support email option. The team at HighLow was able to get back to our queries in a reasonable amount of time.

Withdrawals and Deposits

If you wanted to fund your HighLow account with a credit card, they take all of the major providers. They also offer Neteller deposits. If you wanted to fund your account with one of these methods, the minimum deposit amount is $50. Of course, you could also opt for a wire transfer of which the minimum deposit amount is as low as $10. They are also SSL encrypted so you can be certain that your details are safe.

What we found impressive about HighLow was their withdrawal policy. They allow you to withdraw a minimum of $50 in an instant which is faster than most brokers. We indeed tested this by requesting a withdrawal from the broker and it came within a few hours. However, this can take 1-3 days should you elect to withdraw the funds through wire transfer.

Unfortunately, we found that HighLow charged a 2% withdrawal fee. This means that your returns (as well as initial capital) is reduced by a 2% haircut. Hence, in order to be properly in the money, you will need to generate profits over 2% of capital.

Conclusion

Our overall HighLow review is quite positive. We found them to be transparent and well regarded by a number of traders. The fact that they were ASIC regulated gave us a large degree of confidence. We also appreciated their speedy withdrawals process.

When it comes to trading platform, we found the HighLow system to be quite impressive from a user experience perspective. Trades could be made seamlessly using their carousal layout as well as on the mobile application. We found the Turbo options to be quite an interesting way to trade a high paced trading strategy.

There were only a few downsides that we came across on the HighLow platform. One of them was the 2% withdrawal fee that they charge. This should only be concern if you are uncertain as to whether you will generate more than 2% initially on your account.

We also noticed that HighLow had less diverse account options. For traders who wanted more personal interaction from an account manager that came from larger account deposits, HighLow may disappoint on this front. Similarly, for traders based in the USA, unfortunately HighLow may not be an option due to regulations.

In general however, we found HighLow to be a great brokerage and trustworthy business. Traders can feel safe investing with this firm and will really enjoy using the advanced trading platform. HighLow gets our FXaxe stamp of approval.